About this title: 'As one would expect from an author of Aronson's stature, The Social Animal is a book that is provocative and eminently readable.' - British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 'A rare gem of a book, easy to read but also scientifically sophisticated.' - Contemporary Sociology 'Aronson writes with an astonishing combination of passion, ...
read more
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: W.H. Freeman and Co
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780716716068ISBN:0716716062
Description: Good in Not Issued jacket. Solid 4th edition paperback. Spine is creased. Cover is creased by corners and has heavy shelfwear. Quite a few marks in margins of text. Pages are tanning from age. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Co Ltd
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780716719557ISBN:071671955X
Description: A good reading copy only. Previous owners name inscribed inside front. May have highlighting throughout. -, Trade PaperBack, Good / read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Co Ltd
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780716719557ISBN:071671955X
Description: A good reading copy only. May have underlining or highlighting throughout. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Trade PaperBack, Good / read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Co Ltd
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780716719557ISBN:071671955X
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. May have underlining or highlighting throughout. -, Trade PaperBack, Very Good / read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Co Ltd
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780716712305ISBN:071671230X
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. May have underlining or highlighting throughout. -, Trade PaperBack, Very Good / read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. [ No Hassle 30 Day Returns ] [ Underlining/Highlighting: SOME ] [ Writing: SOME ] [ Torn pages: NO ] [ Broken Seams: NO ] Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Co Ltd Pub Date: 5/1/1984 Binding: Paperback Pages: 440. read more
"I both love and hate this book. I love it because it is a brilliant psychology book. I hate it because it is so good, I read it all day. And didn't study for an exam. Which I had the next day."
"The author states that he purposely left this book brief so that it could serve as an introduction to social psychology. As valid a goal as that might be, Elliot Aronson's approach leaves the reader with a book that only provides examples and defines barely any terms or theories. Aronson must have known that his book may be used as primary text for a social psychology class (as it was in mine), which makes the inadequacies of this book inexcusable.
The author bolds key terms but a review of the dictionary proves it exceedingly lacking. Many of the definitions are social psychology spins on general terms with which many people are already familiar (i.e. self-esteem, self-justification, stereotype, prejudice, insufficient punishment, etc.). Other definitions are of words not specific to psychology that people could easily look up in a regular dictionary (i.e. amygdala, heuristics, catharsis, etc.). Terms actually used in the discipline with which the reader might not be familiar are not even briefly defined (i.e. Prejudiced Personality Theory).
Within the text itself, social psychology theories are still only briefly introduced and not expanded upon. The author seems to think that providing one or two examples of the theory's application will be enough for the reader to understand it. This may be true for simple theories but not the intricate ones with several prongs that were developed over significant periods of time.
Lastly, purely from a layout standpoint, the text is extremely dense. There are so many sections that could have benefited from bullet points that it appears as if the author left it out deliberately so he could avoid having to outline the actual theories in any detail. This makes it difficult for the student to study for tests and there were definitely one or two questions on an exam that I got wrong because I could not remember which set a certain prong belonged to. Ultimately, this book is at best a supplemental text but should not be relied upon to provide any significant understanding of social psychology."
"I had to read this book for my Social Psychology class and it was (quite possibly) the only "text" book I ever actually read. It was a fascinating merging of psychology in a social context. The subject is immediately applicable to real life."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
